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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A Declaration of Love!
You know, I'm predisposed to loving everything Oakland Athletics. No duh you're saying. But there is always differences in the love for each particular version of our beloved A's. I imagine it's kind of like having a new child every year. You love them all, you just love them differently.
This year, the A's are just a lovable bunch and it's kind of a shame that the fans in the Bay Area aren't coming out to see this team more frequently. It's probably something along the lines of what Beane always says about clubhouse chemistry. The chemistry is there as long as you're winning. The love blossoms the more winning that happens. But it's not just about that for me. It's a huge part, don't get me wrong, and the 2008 team is already a lot more lovable than the 2007 bunch. There's just something about having that "no expectations" mentality and have everyone on the planet disrespecting the team and succeeding in the face of that that makes our muppets even more lovable.
I mean, I could go down a list of these guys and explain why I find each of them appealing...OK, actually, I'll do just that.
Rich Harden: I love a guy who can be so very dominant throwing essentially two pitches for the majority of the time. He's thrown the splitter a bit more lately, but he's doing what he's been doing largely with just a fastball and a changeup. Remarkable. Oh and that smirk is frigging brilliant.
Justin Duchscherer and Greg Smith: I'm looping these two together because they largely accomplish great things despite the doubters and people who don't believe a guy who can throw more than 89 mph can be dominant. Duke for being amongst the pitching elite and Smith for doing what he's doing as a rookie. Oh and they both look more like they should be teaching third grade math rather than pitching in the big leagues. Like Harden and Blanton both look like big league pitchers. Duke and Smith? Not so much. I love that.
Joe Blanton: Blanton has been good this year and he's assumed a larger role that he probably wasn't equipped to handle. So he's often been matched up against the number one guy on the other team. He's also pitched a ton already this year given that the A's started earlier in Japan. Still, do still love Cupcakes.
This year, the A's are just a lovable bunch and it's kind of a shame that the fans in the Bay Area aren't coming out to see this team more frequently. It's probably something along the lines of what Beane always says about clubhouse chemistry. The chemistry is there as long as you're winning. The love blossoms the more winning that happens. But it's not just about that for me. It's a huge part, don't get me wrong, and the 2008 team is already a lot more lovable than the 2007 bunch. There's just something about having that "no expectations" mentality and have everyone on the planet disrespecting the team and succeeding in the face of that that makes our muppets even more lovable.
I mean, I could go down a list of these guys and explain why I find each of them appealing...OK, actually, I'll do just that.
Rich Harden: I love a guy who can be so very dominant throwing essentially two pitches for the majority of the time. He's thrown the splitter a bit more lately, but he's doing what he's been doing largely with just a fastball and a changeup. Remarkable. Oh and that smirk is frigging brilliant.
Justin Duchscherer and Greg Smith: I'm looping these two together because they largely accomplish great things despite the doubters and people who don't believe a guy who can throw more than 89 mph can be dominant. Duke for being amongst the pitching elite and Smith for doing what he's doing as a rookie. Oh and they both look more like they should be teaching third grade math rather than pitching in the big leagues. Like Harden and Blanton both look like big league pitchers. Duke and Smith? Not so much. I love that.
Joe Blanton: Blanton has been good this year and he's assumed a larger role that he probably wasn't equipped to handle. So he's often been matched up against the number one guy on the other team. He's also pitched a ton already this year given that the A's started earlier in Japan. Still, do still love Cupcakes.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A’s Are Digging Deep
Another season, another series of bites from the old injury bug. Yes folks, it’s our Oakland A’s. Did you really think that they wouldn’t be using the DL like an ATM machine in Vegas?
Frank Thomas, Ryan Sweeney, Andrew Brown, Santiago Casilla and Mike Sweeney are some of the most recent victims. But as they say with great power comes great respo…oh wait, I mean, with many injuries comes many opportunities. The A’s recently called up super-prospect Carlos Gonzalez and Athletics Nation contributor Brad Ziegler, a submarining righty relief pitcher, from Sacramento. Also, Eric Chavez is finally back with the team after finally recovering from his Steve Austin-like surgeries this past offseason in which he had his back, elbow and shoulder all surgically repair. “We can rebuild him.”
The beauty is that the A’s have been able to hang with the Angels through the first two months of the season because Billy Beane realized that the team lacked depth through the myriad of injuries the team endured the past two seasons. So now, the A’s replace Ryan Sweeney with Carlos Gonzalez in center field. The A’s have Jack Hannahan to hold down the fort at third base while Eric Chavez has all his pieces put back together again. The A’s have Jack Cust to move into the DH slot when Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney go down. Gregorio Petit filled in admirably when Mark Ellis was unavailable for several days. And Greg Smith filled in when Rich Harden went down.
Yet the team has already survived all these things and still remain, surprisingly to most of the “experts”, right up in the thick of the AL West race. That’s mostly attributed to the added depth that trading fan favorites like Swisher and Haren during this past offseason.
So while this season has been full of the usual injuries, it’s also been full of pleasant surprises for us A’s fans thanks to some great preparation by the A’s front office. Then again, we’ve gotten used to it. Thankfully.
Frank Thomas, Ryan Sweeney, Andrew Brown, Santiago Casilla and Mike Sweeney are some of the most recent victims. But as they say with great power comes great respo…oh wait, I mean, with many injuries comes many opportunities. The A’s recently called up super-prospect Carlos Gonzalez and Athletics Nation contributor Brad Ziegler, a submarining righty relief pitcher, from Sacramento. Also, Eric Chavez is finally back with the team after finally recovering from his Steve Austin-like surgeries this past offseason in which he had his back, elbow and shoulder all surgically repair. “We can rebuild him.”
The beauty is that the A’s have been able to hang with the Angels through the first two months of the season because Billy Beane realized that the team lacked depth through the myriad of injuries the team endured the past two seasons. So now, the A’s replace Ryan Sweeney with Carlos Gonzalez in center field. The A’s have Jack Hannahan to hold down the fort at third base while Eric Chavez has all his pieces put back together again. The A’s have Jack Cust to move into the DH slot when Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney go down. Gregorio Petit filled in admirably when Mark Ellis was unavailable for several days. And Greg Smith filled in when Rich Harden went down.
Yet the team has already survived all these things and still remain, surprisingly to most of the “experts”, right up in the thick of the AL West race. That’s mostly attributed to the added depth that trading fan favorites like Swisher and Haren during this past offseason.
So while this season has been full of the usual injuries, it’s also been full of pleasant surprises for us A’s fans thanks to some great preparation by the A’s front office. Then again, we’ve gotten used to it. Thankfully.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Zen and the Art of A’s Fandom
The Oakland Athletics have already shown you what kind of team they’re going to be in 2008. And you better buckle up because it’s going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride. The team held its own against the World Champion Boston Red Sox in Japan and then came home and was competitive against the Sox again.
Then they proceeded to take two out of three from the team that competed against the World Champs in the ALCS last season, the Cleveland Indians. Our young green and golders then swept the high payroll Toronto Blue Jays, took two out of three in Cleveland, split a short two-game series against the White Sox in Chicago and came home to get swept by the Mariners.
What’s already been very apparent about these A’s in the small sample size we’ve been provided so far this season is that this team is going to go through stretches where it’s going to look like a contender and absolutely dreadful stretches where they’re going to look like they can’t beat Kane County. Granted a lot of that has to do with the early, but hardly unexpected, absences of Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer.
Yet those injuries are exactly the reason that Billy Beane has decided to make this a rebuilding year and restock the system. Younger players are going to have wild ups and downs, every ones as supremely talented as Travis Buck and Daric Barton. Buck has looked completely lost for the majority of the 2008 year. The only series he’s been the Buck we all expected was the Toronto series in which he set an Oakland record for the most doubles by one player in a three-game series.
The A’s rotation now has Dana Eveland and Greg Smith and is featuring spring training A’s fifth starter candidates Lenny DiNardo or possibly Kirk Saarloos (depending on what happens with Lenny). Eveland and Smith are young and they’ve been very good so far (outside of Eveland’s last start) but the league will get scouting reports out soon enough on how to approach both of these pitchers so there will probably be some struggles to come.
Then they proceeded to take two out of three from the team that competed against the World Champs in the ALCS last season, the Cleveland Indians. Our young green and golders then swept the high payroll Toronto Blue Jays, took two out of three in Cleveland, split a short two-game series against the White Sox in Chicago and came home to get swept by the Mariners.
What’s already been very apparent about these A’s in the small sample size we’ve been provided so far this season is that this team is going to go through stretches where it’s going to look like a contender and absolutely dreadful stretches where they’re going to look like they can’t beat Kane County. Granted a lot of that has to do with the early, but hardly unexpected, absences of Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer.
Yet those injuries are exactly the reason that Billy Beane has decided to make this a rebuilding year and restock the system. Younger players are going to have wild ups and downs, every ones as supremely talented as Travis Buck and Daric Barton. Buck has looked completely lost for the majority of the 2008 year. The only series he’s been the Buck we all expected was the Toronto series in which he set an Oakland record for the most doubles by one player in a three-game series.
The A’s rotation now has Dana Eveland and Greg Smith and is featuring spring training A’s fifth starter candidates Lenny DiNardo or possibly Kirk Saarloos (depending on what happens with Lenny). Eveland and Smith are young and they’ve been very good so far (outside of Eveland’s last start) but the league will get scouting reports out soon enough on how to approach both of these pitchers so there will probably be some struggles to come.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
40th Year in Oakland to Be of the Rebuilding Variety
The A’s have had a storied history in Oakland. The dynasty team of the early 70s. The Bash Brothers era of the late 80s/early 90s (albeit tainted now by the steroids scandal). The team was nothing but pure fun in the early 2000s and sported the second best record in baseball for that time frame.
Of course, the A’s also had miserable seasons in Oakland. I’m talking horrific years of which no one will ever want to speak of again. But 2008 should be something in between. In an effort to rebuild a team that was simply ravaged by a historic number of injuries last year, Billy Beane traded two of the A’s best and most popular players to try and rebuild a below-average farm system.
He definitely did that as many of the experts on minor league systems like Minor League Ball’s John Sickels and Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein think that the A’s are in the top three in terms of talent in their system now. The A’s were in the bottom third of the teams in baseball last season. The cupboard was pretty bare after years of turning out players like Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher and Rich Harden.
But now the A’s have players like Gio Gonzalez and Carlos Gonzalez ready to be true impact players. Maybe not this year, but in the very near future. You likely won’t recognize much of this team this year. I mean, Eric Chavez is starting the season on the DL and isn’t the A’s starting third baseman for the first time in about a decade.
A’s fans will get to know names like Emil Brown, Chris Denorfia and Ryan Sweeney, but don’t get too used to them. Those are basically transitional players for this rebuilding year. The players with which the A’s have banked their entire future are named Buck, Barton and Suzuki. So we’re going to have a chance to see the A’s future today. Just don’t expect for this team to be like the early 70s teams. But I also don’t expect it to be as bad as most people expect especially as the year progresses and some of the gems Billy Beane acquired this offseason make their debuts. If nothing more, it should be exciting to see a team on the verge of building something great, even if it doesn’t mean excellence in 2008.
Of course, the A’s also had miserable seasons in Oakland. I’m talking horrific years of which no one will ever want to speak of again. But 2008 should be something in between. In an effort to rebuild a team that was simply ravaged by a historic number of injuries last year, Billy Beane traded two of the A’s best and most popular players to try and rebuild a below-average farm system.
He definitely did that as many of the experts on minor league systems like Minor League Ball’s John Sickels and Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein think that the A’s are in the top three in terms of talent in their system now. The A’s were in the bottom third of the teams in baseball last season. The cupboard was pretty bare after years of turning out players like Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher and Rich Harden.
But now the A’s have players like Gio Gonzalez and Carlos Gonzalez ready to be true impact players. Maybe not this year, but in the very near future. You likely won’t recognize much of this team this year. I mean, Eric Chavez is starting the season on the DL and isn’t the A’s starting third baseman for the first time in about a decade.
A’s fans will get to know names like Emil Brown, Chris Denorfia and Ryan Sweeney, but don’t get too used to them. Those are basically transitional players for this rebuilding year. The players with which the A’s have banked their entire future are named Buck, Barton and Suzuki. So we’re going to have a chance to see the A’s future today. Just don’t expect for this team to be like the early 70s teams. But I also don’t expect it to be as bad as most people expect especially as the year progresses and some of the gems Billy Beane acquired this offseason make their debuts. If nothing more, it should be exciting to see a team on the verge of building something great, even if it doesn’t mean excellence in 2008.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Barton Brings Excitement
It took the A’s nearly all of 2007 to do it, but they finally decided to call up phenom Daric Barton this past week. And he didn’t disappoint, showing the trademark patience and an excellent eye for the strike zone.
I got a chance to see Barton in Sacramento and interviewed him when he was with the Stockton Ports a couple of seasons ago. Barton is still very young in baseball years as he just turned 22 years old in August. But if you’re looking for a reason to get excited for 2008, Barton is a key reason why you should look at getting season tickets. Seriously, I’m not sure that I’ve seen a young guy with a better approach at the plate, except maybe Travis Buck. See, unlike Nick Swisher who works a count so he can take a huge rip at a pitch, Barton continues to have a good approach even in a hitter’s count.
The best part about Barton is that for the first time a long time, the A’s have two very solid young hitters coming up. Buck and Barton are going to be absolute on-base machines at the top of the A’s lineup in 2008. And if you alternate Buck and Barton with guys like Swisher and Cust, two guys who swing for the fences more often than not, you’ll wind up seeing the return of the three-run homer in Oakland rather than the seemingly inevitable solo shots we’ve seen this year. The thing about Cust and Swisher isn’t that they don’t walk a lot because they most definitely do, it’s that they are usually a walk, strikeout or home run whereas the A’s need guys like Buck and Barton who seem like they’re going to be good all-around hitters and not all-or-nothing propositions.
Buck reminds me of a young Jason Giambi with his approach at the plate. And his swing is one of the most level swings I’ve ever seen. He goes to the opposite field with authority and confidence. Seemingly the only thing that can hold Buck back is his health. He’s had a lot of injury problems for a guy so young.
Regardless, these two young players have been among the best news coming out of what has been a mostly depressing 2007 (due almost entirely to the deluge of injuries). 2008 can’t get here soon enough.
I got a chance to see Barton in Sacramento and interviewed him when he was with the Stockton Ports a couple of seasons ago. Barton is still very young in baseball years as he just turned 22 years old in August. But if you’re looking for a reason to get excited for 2008, Barton is a key reason why you should look at getting season tickets. Seriously, I’m not sure that I’ve seen a young guy with a better approach at the plate, except maybe Travis Buck. See, unlike Nick Swisher who works a count so he can take a huge rip at a pitch, Barton continues to have a good approach even in a hitter’s count.
The best part about Barton is that for the first time a long time, the A’s have two very solid young hitters coming up. Buck and Barton are going to be absolute on-base machines at the top of the A’s lineup in 2008. And if you alternate Buck and Barton with guys like Swisher and Cust, two guys who swing for the fences more often than not, you’ll wind up seeing the return of the three-run homer in Oakland rather than the seemingly inevitable solo shots we’ve seen this year. The thing about Cust and Swisher isn’t that they don’t walk a lot because they most definitely do, it’s that they are usually a walk, strikeout or home run whereas the A’s need guys like Buck and Barton who seem like they’re going to be good all-around hitters and not all-or-nothing propositions.
Buck reminds me of a young Jason Giambi with his approach at the plate. And his swing is one of the most level swings I’ve ever seen. He goes to the opposite field with authority and confidence. Seemingly the only thing that can hold Buck back is his health. He’s had a lot of injury problems for a guy so young.
Regardless, these two young players have been among the best news coming out of what has been a mostly depressing 2007 (due almost entirely to the deluge of injuries). 2008 can’t get here soon enough.
Monday, August 20, 2007
A Lost Soul in August
This is a strange feeling. It’s mid-August and for the first time in seemingly a decade, there is no playoff race on the horizon. Yes, the A’s are technically still alive and anything can happen, but they have a ton of teams to leapfrog in order to make it interesting. And yes, they have given A’s fans a little hope by playing 9-5 baseball so far in August, but they would need to keep up a ridiculous pace so it isn’t even worth mentioning.
I’ve mentioned many times right here that what has made this season exciting is the fact that the A’s have given some unheralded players some opportunities this year. Not by choice, mind you, but players like Cust, Suzuki and now Donnie Murphy are getting the opportunity to show their abilities because of injuries to others.
My problem is that it’s a very different way to watch your favorite team. It’s like being in the “friend zone” with some person that you adore, but they fail to ever see you as anything more than someone to complain about their crappy boyfriends. October is now a distant dream. I always knew that the A’s would likely have to have a relatively injury-free season to be in contention for the playoffs, but the reality is much harder to face. It’s almost hard to remember a time when the A’s were out of it this early. The A’s have played so few meaningless games that I find myself being much more analytical about their play instead of just passion-driven. I guess in some ways that’s good as I’m more superego than id about things. 'Course that all goes out the window whenever the A’s play the Angels. I’m all id when it comes to facing our rivals from the OC.
Any way, a season that seemed iffy to begin wound up going down the tubes so very early. Obviously, I was waaay too spoiled by this team’s run. I’m probably sounding like a Yankee fan at this point, but hey, I suppose that’s what success brings. An expectation of success. And the A’s have had the second best regular season record in baseball since 2000.
It’s an unusual time to be an A’s fan as it appears like the 90s again. And no one wants to go there again.
I’ve mentioned many times right here that what has made this season exciting is the fact that the A’s have given some unheralded players some opportunities this year. Not by choice, mind you, but players like Cust, Suzuki and now Donnie Murphy are getting the opportunity to show their abilities because of injuries to others.
My problem is that it’s a very different way to watch your favorite team. It’s like being in the “friend zone” with some person that you adore, but they fail to ever see you as anything more than someone to complain about their crappy boyfriends. October is now a distant dream. I always knew that the A’s would likely have to have a relatively injury-free season to be in contention for the playoffs, but the reality is much harder to face. It’s almost hard to remember a time when the A’s were out of it this early. The A’s have played so few meaningless games that I find myself being much more analytical about their play instead of just passion-driven. I guess in some ways that’s good as I’m more superego than id about things. 'Course that all goes out the window whenever the A’s play the Angels. I’m all id when it comes to facing our rivals from the OC.
Any way, a season that seemed iffy to begin wound up going down the tubes so very early. Obviously, I was waaay too spoiled by this team’s run. I’m probably sounding like a Yankee fan at this point, but hey, I suppose that’s what success brings. An expectation of success. And the A’s have had the second best regular season record in baseball since 2000.
It’s an unusual time to be an A’s fan as it appears like the 90s again. And no one wants to go there again.
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